Thursday, September 13, 2018

Today's news post is half devoted to this weekend's announced hard rock concert previews, and half to some brand new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year, including a major new Kewadin Casino event! Before anyone asks, I am well aware of the new Halloween Party announcement for Sault Ontario, as well as new fallout and postings relating to the Oh!No festival, those are absolutely coming on the site over the coming days! Now, here's what you should know for the other new hard rock concerts in our area!

Local classic/hard rock cover band Fluid 5ive will return to The Rockstar Bar for one night only on Saturday, October 6th! This sporadically seen band were last publically advertised when they rocked the same venue in May, and while I'm not sure what happened to them over the summer, hopefully their old school sound and frequently heavy cover selection goes over well next month! This concert will also mark their public debut with their current lineup, as former Smokehouse guitarist Liam Vaillancourt has joined their ranks, making the band a "fluid 5ive" once again. Technically, he's replacing Rob Irving on lead guitar (who has moved back to keyboard and rhythm guitar full time), but the band's prior lead guitarist was Joseph Miller. Liam's actually a recent high school student, but he's a skilled performer beyond his years, and it'll be interesting to see how he fits in with Fluid 5ive going forward! This concert on October 6th has an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM (though that may be just the door-opening time), you must be 19+ to attend, and there's no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on Fluid 5ive's return to the stage!

Next up, there's at least one more major headlining concert making it's way to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in 2018, as Los Angeles glam/comedy metal quartet Steel Panther will make their local concert debut on Saturday, December 1st! Already an established cult favourite from hit songs like "Death To All But Metal", "Community Property", and "If You Really Really Love Me", their explicit-yet-hilarious original songs and hair metal parodies have made them a must-see attraction in the 2010s, and I know there's some diehard fans eagerly awaiting this show in a few months! Detroit hard rock quintet Wilson will return to our area as openers on December 1st, marking their first local concert appearance since opening for Bam Margera in Sault Ontario 5 years ago. Their wild set at that concert arguably stole the show, so prepare for a hard partying set of fast and heavy originals then! This is a presentation of Allstar Promotions, in their 25th official concert since their launch. Congratulations to Dave & company, and what a party to mark the occasion!

Tickets go on sale for $25 TOMORROW (unless you have a fan club password) at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, and unlike last month's Seether concert, there will be assigned seating. An 8:00 PM start time is in effect, and even with minimal regional radio play (partially due to their X-rated lyrics), this should be a well attended hit show! I saw Steel Panther open for Judas Priest in Detroit, and they had a great and funny set, so hopefully the same experience hits the Soo on December 1st! Visit the above links for more details, and get your tickets TOMORROW!

Now, let's get into this weekend's concert previews on a fairly quiet stretch as we hit the middle of the month, starting with Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm's return to The Rapids Lounge at the aforementioned Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Definitely more familiar regionally from their St. Ignace Kewadin gigs, the Peril side project last played at The Rapids Lounge in April, and before that in October 2017, so if you haven't gotten a chance to see Scarkazm this year, these shows should be circled on your calendar! If you can't make these, they will be back in the Soo in just three weeks. You can take in Scarkazm's fan favourite hard rocking covers (and perhaps originals) tomorrow and/or Saturday night at 9:00 PM, you must be 21 or older to attend, and there are no announced cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for our last currently known hard rock concert previews for this weekend, as prolific hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison has two public shows lined up at different venues, namely The Road House Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT and Room 21 on SATURDAY NIGHT! With his Gliss hiatus ongoing (look for word on the venue's re-opening soon), he's keeping busy with shows at two of his recent favourite venues this weekend, having just played at Room 21 last week, and at The Road House last month. These should prove to be prime opportunities to hear Tym's skilled hard and classic rock covers in familiar locales, so if you're in the east end or downtown, you have chances this weekend! No word though on if there will be a Sangria Saturday theme or something similar at Room 21. These shows are 10:00 PM events with no announced cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for Oh!No fallout next! Thanks everyone!